In the summer of 2023, my wife and I took a trip to the Pacific Northwest to attend a friend's wedding and visit a number of national parks: Yosemite National Park, Mt. Rainer National Park, Glacier National Park, and Theodore Roosevelt National Park.
We flew into San Francisco and drove out to Yosemite around noon. That was a huge mistake. I knew this park would be crowded, but was woefully unprepared for how packed it would be around this time of day. The car line to just enter was over an hour long, but given we couldn't check into our hotel for quite a while, we decided to just tough the line out. Little did we know entering was just half the battle. The hard part was finding parking. We drove around for probably another half hour trying to find anywhere to park. We got lucky and found a spot in a halfway decent section of the park. It was only about a mile walk to the main visitor center, where a lot of the popular hikes originate.
As frustrated as we were by the parking fiasco, our moods turned around pretty quickly from just looking around the park. I can definitely see why this park is so popular. It's absolutely stunning everywhere you look. Here are some shots I took on my point-and-shoot during the walk from the car to the visitor center.
When we arrived at the visitor center, I asked a ranger if there were any good, short hikes we could knock out in a couple hours before the sun went down. She recommended Yosemite Falls. We booked it over and started up the mountain as fast as we could. It was quite steep but definitely what I had asked for. We reached the summit in about one and a half hours and got a great view of Half Dome.
These shots were taken on a new point-and-shoot camera called the Olympus AF-1 Twin, which I bought on a complete whim. This camera has two built-in lenses: a 35mm and a 85mm. At the click of a button, the lenses swap inside the camera body (viewfinder patch also swaps along with the lens!). I thought this mechanic was so neat that I had to have it. It was very affordable too (I paid around 40 bucks)! I liked the idea of have two choices for focal lengths as opposed to a zoom lens with an infinite amount of choices.
Just for fun, here is the same composition of the above image of Half Dome taken on my mirrorless digital camera:
After snagging these shots, we hurried back down the mountain and to our airbnb to try to catch the sunset. On the way back to our car, there was a section of the sidewalk that was flooded. It would have been an extra half hour of walking to go around so we decided to take off our shoes and brave the walk. The water was only ankle deep but it was FREEZING. We had to stop a few times and sit on the railing to give our feet a break from the cold.
We stopped for some Subway sandwiches on the way but they took forever and we ended up reaching the airbnb literally like 20 minutes too late to see the sunset.
We had learned our lesson about how crowded this park gets in the afternoon so we woke up around sunrise to get to the park before the masses. The plan today was to hike up to Vernal Falls via the Mist Trail. Based on my research of hikes in Yosemite, this is one of the most popular and unique hikes in the park. The mist created from the falls gets you absolutely soaked to the bone, so we prepared by bringing some ponchos.
Getting up so early definitely paid off since there was no line to get into the park. However, we still had to drive around a bit to find parking. On the way in, we stopped by a super popular photo spot called Tunnel View to grab this image:
For comparison, here is the same image color graded taken from my digital camera (made the light much warmer in post than it actually was):
Due to the scale and detail in all the trees and waterfall, I think the digital image wins over the film in this instance. From here, we ventured closer to the trailhead and started the hike.
I kept my film camera in my pocket for the entire hike since old technology and water do not mix well. The "mist" part of the hike was absolutely insane. It essentially felt like being rained on constantly while climbing up the cliff. It was super unique and unforgettable. I'd highly recommend this hike to anyone who is able to do it.
Once we got to the top of Vernal Falls, there was a little section where people could dry off and rest. I snapped this image from this area. There is a 24/7 rainbow over this section of the falls due to the constant misting.
After this beautiful hike, we headed back into Mariposa (the small town that we stayed in) to explore a bit. We were about to drive out of town to find a good lunch spot when we spotted a little girl eating some ice cream. My wife's interest was piqued, so we retraced her steps and found the shop. Vacation mode = ice cream for lunch. A few images of Mariposa:
The next day, we headed back to San Francisco to visit the famous Taco Bell Cantina in Pacifica. I enjoy Taco Bell when I have it but Shruthi absolutely loves it. This Taco Bell Cantina not only serves alcohol but is also right on the beach.
We arrived and it was absolutely packed. There were probably a hundred people there. Finding a seat was a challenge but when we did it was fantastic. We got a couple drinks and found a little spot outside on the deck. It was a bit cold and windy but the experience was so much fun. Enjoying a Doritos Locos Taco paired with a margarita while simultaneously feeling the cool ocean breeze was great.
After eating a great meal, we explored the beach and found a short trail up to a point overlooking the ocean. The flowers and houses on the side of the mountains painted a picture I was not used to seeing back in Texas.
Seattle
Our next stop was Seattle. We had a day here to explore before the wedding in Tacoma. We started where any Seattle tourist would start: Pike Place Market. Naturally, we grabbed a coffee at the original Starbucks. For whatever reason at that very moment, my allergies decided to absolutely murder me. I have zero clue why, but my nose would not stop running the entire time we were at Public Market Center. It really took away from the enjoyment of the experience. Nevertheless, I still did my best to grab as many photos as I could.
One mistake I made was loading a roll of black and white film instead of a roll of color film. I didn't realize how much color was going to be in this market. I thought it would be a bit more industrial like NYC. Lesson learned. Hope you still enjoy the images though. I particularly like the photos with the cranes and the sign. I think it gives a real accurate feeling of the environment of the place: a little urban street surrounded by water and nature.
We stopped by this place called Piroshky Piroshky. It was basically a stuffed baked or fried bread. Super yummy, highly recommend.
After grabbing some drinks and Taco Bell to end the day, we headed back to the hotel to crash. I was so relieved to be home to let my allergies chill...
The next day, we rented a car and drove out to Tacoma for the wedding. Grabbed some images of the little drive over. Pacific North West vibessss. Giant fields of golden flowers, mountains at every turn, windmill farms, vistas, everything I love.
I didn't bring my film camera to the wedding but it was beautiful. Congrats Lucas and Sonali!
The next day, we took a trip up to Mt. Rainier. The neat thing about Tacoma was that this mountain was pretty much viewable everywhere. It was as if the mountain was looking over the city at every turn.
We were absolutely not prepared for this hike. I did my research and people were saying that ice crampons and poles would be helpful, but that the hike is doable without them. I can confirm that is technically true since we did complete the hike and make it out alive. However, we took a number of comically uncontrolled falls on the ice. I didn't take my film camera, but here is my favorite digital image of Mt Adams from Panorama Point atop Mt. Rainier.
After finishing the hike, we made our way to our airbnb. This was the first chill night of the trip. We checked in and enjoyed a bottle of wine while watching TV until a reasonable hour. We had a nine hour drive to Glacier National Park the next day, so we needed our rest.
After the long drive, we made it to our airbnb in Hungry Horse (a small mountain town about half an hour from the west entrance of Glacier). We loved this place. It was a studio with plenty spacious for our needs. My favorite part was that there was a small private trail down to a river where you could swim or fish, something we would be taking part in at a later date.
After such a long drive we used the rest of the day to just unwind and take it easy. We saved the park for the next day. Shruthi was super excited to read her book: A Court of Wings and Ruin, the third book in the A Court of Thorns and Roses series by Sarah J. Maas.
Having learned our lesson from Yosemite, we woke before the sun came up to be the first ones in the park. We were greeted with tons of fog entering the visitor center. We were nervous that all the views would be obstructed on our hike.
My point-and-shoot couldn't find focus through all the fog. Luckily, after just about half an hour on the hike, the fog began to clear and gave way to the breathtaking views of the park. The hike we did was called Highline and it was perhaps my favorite hike ever. It was quite long, but not very strenuous, and the views would change throughout the hike from one stunning view to another.
Here's a digital comparison for fun:
About halfway through the hike we stumbled upon some big horn sheep!
At about the 3/4 mark, there is a small cabin, shop, and restaurant at the top of the mountain (the Granite Park Chalet). You can stay at these cabins if you book in advance, which is definitely something I want to do. We got there before the restaurant opened but still sat at the picnic tables to enjoy the views and snack.
After the hike, we went back home to enjoy a big meal, ice cream, and some movies.
The next day, we got up early again to be the first ones in the park. It was kayaking day on Lake McDonald. We rented a double kayak and headed out onto the lake. It was so serene. The water was calm and the constant view of the mountains everywhere was relaxing. We banked multiple times to take a break from being on the water and to eat and lounge around on the rocks.
The rocks by the shore were rainbow colored too! We stayed on the lake for about four hours. We could have stayed longer given how much we loved it out there, but the timer on our kayak rental was ticking and we had more to do that day. We considered doing another hike after kayaking, but with the park being so crowded and the shuttles not being reliable, we decided to call it day there and return to the airbnb's river to swim. However, I will definitely be back to spend an entire week at this park. Glacier has to be my favorite national park I've ever been to.
It was perfect river weather: lots of sun, warm, no wind, bright. We took down a bottle of wine using the river bank as our makeshift wine cooler, and even ended up meeting the town's unofficial mayor and having a conversation with him as he fished!
The next day, we drove about four hours or so to Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota. This was our final road trip stop. While only a few hours away from Glacier, the landscape of this park is vastly different. It had a much more desert feel. It reminded me more of New Mexico than of the Pacific Northwest.
The hike was fairly short and easy but had some fantastic views of the canyon and river. This is one of the least visited parks in the entire U.S. and while I can understand that due to its remoteness, it's a shame since the landscape is quite unique and interesting. The trail was a bit overgrown with these huge yellow flowering fields, and we could hear rattlesnakes everywhere.
After the hike we enjoyed a large pizza and giant pitcher of beer at the small town our hotel was located in.
The trip was a huge success and we had a great time in nature. I want to go back to Glacier so badly, kayak all day, and stay at the cabin in the mountains. One day.
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